1. Bruins–Habs:

(inexcusable not to have good ice in a playoff game)

Bruins

* I buy the Paille penalty in overtime but questionable call on Bartkowski
* With that said Bartkowski had crazy turnovers, couldn’t win one on one battles and two times penalties which were goals
* My first hockey coach – Chris Nilan – always told us on a breakaway never go to the backhand – Krejci did it twice
* Gotta shoot the puck more
* Must sustain physical play (I think Clode told them to be careful not to be tricked into stupid penalties but that’s different than hitting)
* To me Chara was tired and invisible
* Great faceoff win by Soderberg on the third goal
* Marchand and Lucic got in the way of game winning goals
* Bergeron stats were good on faceoffs but he seemed to lose some big ones
* Iginla was a second late on almost every shot
* Krug six playoff goals – wow!
* 4th line was a problem – gave up a goal and were running around in their own end

Habs

* Whats up with Subban throwing right hand punches all game?
* Shockingly both Pacioretty and Vanek were quiet – Vanek no shots
* Price is the luckiest goalie in the league – off the posts / through the crease / off Bruins

Other

* Refs don’t want to drop the pucks
* Pissed we got the JV announcing team
* Great job with crowd singing national anthem (will Montreal boo ours?)
* Not sure if you remember this play 30 seconds into game – Iginla had a breakaway which they whistled because a stick above the shoulder (would have liked to have seen that again)
* If you lose your stick in the defensive zone just come off – your useless
* Is Paille better than Caron?

Worst Players

* Great set up for second goal for Lucic but man does he turn the puck over
* Rask bad second goal / stupid tie up of puck while on power play / some rebounds / he was ducking like Tony Eason on pucks high
* Marchand is losing every one on one battle
* Riley Smith does nothing for me – I know he scored a lucky goal
* Bartkowski threw up on himself – liability

2. Peter Vescey in my book NBA List Jam on Donald Sterling:

…. Comes off as almost childlike. Diverse discrimination suits and consequent huge settlements appear not to faze him….Heckling players, humiliating executives and haranguing David Stern at Board of Governor functions of course are expected to remain a few of Sterlings favorite things

3. Red Sox Friday:

Turned on Red Sox between periods and almost fell asleep in comparison – while I watched for a half inning I saw:

* Spider Man graphic
* Ads behind the plate for Celebrity Cruises, Nova Scotia, Benjamin Moore, Waste Management
* On the right side of the screen is the Foxwoods pitch location box
* Then they went to the Toyota Game Break and I switched

4. Joe Thornton:

My annual Joe Thornton playoffs vs regular season (I know my Bruins fans don’t want to hear this but I was right about Thornton and Tim Thomas)

5. By decade how many times the Celtics qualified for the playoffs:

6. NHL rule changes that improved the game:

* Touch up on offsides
* Icing call adjustment
* Not letting players tie up the puck on the boards
* All two line passes (not as good as I thought but good)
* Now if they could only reduce the goalie equipment

7. Amazing Stats:

Marchand hasn’t been the same since his 2011 dancing shirtless in Foxwoods with Seguin:

8. Other stuff – Red Sox:

* 18% through the season
* 6-10 at home
* 3:44 in 48 degrees against Tampa Bay – no wonder kids are signing up for lacrosse

9. Just a Little Bit Outside:

The Sterling discussion and yes he is a racist loser but…

* So you can lose a private business for a private conversation that takes place in your home – wow
* Frauds not sitting out the game on Sunday including Doc Rivers – they talk about Plantation and they were willing to go perform and pick up their paycheck still
* Floyd Mayweather can’t buy the team – he’s a racist and a felon
* Clippers could be now galvanized by this and make a run

10. Randomocity:

* RIP Dr. Jack Ramsey, who also contributed to the NBA List Jam with top ten NBA teams ever: 5. 1956-1957 3. 1985-1986
* This Winston kid is a bad egg – trouble is finding him
* Interesting Steve Lyons has appeared back in town – not good timing with the Donald Sterling discussions on racism and sexism with his demise from Fox and racist comments

About Michael

Lifelong Boston resident who finds equal enjoyment in celebrating the local team's success as I do complaining about their failures. I have been writing the Top Ten for the last decade as well as five sports books: 26 Miles to Boston, Rebound, The President's Team, The Great Book of Boston Sports Lists and NBA List Jam.

Discussion

in terms of chara, see your 2nd note for your “Habs” section. i thought chara was quiet offensively, but he was clearly using all energy to negate that top line of montreal. i thought he played well to be honest. very effective.

bartkowski sucks. BUT… is meszaros, who is slower and more lumbering than david ortiz, a better option? that’s the worst part about him being so terrible.

bruins PP was also terrible last night. couldn’t get set up. canadiens was almost automatic, pretty much difference in game.

krejci loves the backhand on the breakaway (he won an OT game last year against TOR w/ a backhand), but yeah he’s just gotta rip that top shelf, glove-side…. 2x!!!

lucic fanned on a great feed from krejci… wake up, milan. what a whiff that was.

they keep playing this way (attempted 96 shots with 51 getting registered as shots), they’ll win the series. particularly if they can tighten up and restrict montreal’s opportunities even more.

and finally… it is despicable that ESPN buries the coverage of that game as like the 9th headline today. that was an instant sports classic.

Lucic seems lazy to me. I’d rather see Sean Thornton out there than him at this point – there would be a lot more effort.
I’m really starting to like Dougie Hamilton. The kid stands out in my opinion.
I agree with your assessment of Tory Krug the other day – he is such a good skater.

I agree that Subban seems to get away with a lot, but he is a difference maker.

I think Tronburger is right – they keep outshooting them like that they’ll win this thing. There were so many close calls last night. Bergeron and Iginla just missed the net, Lucic fans a few times, Marchand and Krecji have been snake bitten – posts/crossbars – some of these will have to go in at some point.

Baseball comments are spot on, boring, slow, cold game that is over-commercialed with advertising. Even pre-game at the park, they bring out the (insert brand) official ball holder, along with official blood donor of the game.

Comment on Dean Wormer spot on, as Animal House was on cable last night as well. Flipping channels with my ten year old boy made me realize he isn’t ready for that movie, but some day we will watch it together